Wonder Woman 1981, the Prequel to the Sequel
by Dufusyte
Summary: Whereas the sequel to the Wonder Woman 2017 movie will be bringing back actor Chris Pine, the scenes sketched herein suggest a way to reintegrate the actor without diminishing the legacy of his character's heroic sacrifice in the original movie. Enjoy!
1. A Mystery

...

The sequel begins with a stylized montage, similar to the end credits of the first movie, briefly showing Diana watch the plane come to her island, her and Steve on the boat approaching London, them battling together, and their post-battle dance. Fade to Black, and then the first scene begins:

It is the morning after the bedroom scene of the original movie. Wonder Woman (WW) is waking up; she sits on the edge of the bed, already suited, framed by the morning light streaming in the window. The camera angle hides the fact that Steve Trevor (ST) is also in bed. WW stands up to give her outfit a final tug into place for the day, and then her hand, with a mind of its own, comes to rest gently over her belly, and she pauses...and smiles to herself.

ST: You don't have a baby.

WW: (slightly startled; did not realize ST was awake) We slept together.

ST: Well yes, we "slept together," but... How much biology did you read again?

WW: It was a long time ago...and seemed unimportant then,

ST: -because there were no men on your island. You might want to re-read some of those-

WW: You said that's where babies come from. Sleeping-

ST: There's sleeping together, and there's "sleeping together."

WW: Why didn't you tell-

ST: Look. With all due respect, it's pretty clear you, how shall I say this, in the nicest way, have some reading to catch up on. And, do you really know what it means - what it means to give yourself to someone? I'd hate for some guy to take advantage of you.

WW: Take advantage? (all innocent)

ST: See, that's what I mean. And I'm not going to be that guy. When you give yourself to someone, you should know what it means. Until then... (meanwhile, they are both ready to exit the room) Now, when we go downstairs we should go down separately.

WW: Why?

ST: To preserve your honor.

WW: Was something dishonorable?

ST: They would say we should be married.

WW: Then let's get married.

ST: Is that...something you would consider?

WW: Yes. (confidently, but it is evident she has no idea what it is about)

ST: Well, tell you what, if we're both still alive by the end of this day, that's something we can talk- You know, if you're going to marry someone, you really should know what it means.

WW: (frustrated) You take the stairs. (She hops out the window)

*Cut to where WW lands outside. Samir, Chief and the Scot are standing there. WW lands next to Samir, startling him.

SAM: That's quite an entrance, Diana!

WW: It was the honorable thing to do.

SAM: (a bit of confused silence and baffled looks between Samir and the Scot; then politely,) Did you sleep well last night?

WW: Yes. (matter of fact, absent minded)

SCOT: And how about Captain Trevor; did *he* sleep well last night? (with a giant smile full of inappropriate suggestion)

WW: (sincerely confused about what happened last night, and not finding any suitable response, at last comes up with,) You should ask him.

SCOT: Oh, he's not the sort to say nary a thing about it.

(ST emerges from the front door)

SAM: (dropping the subject) Look at these horses! The villagers gave them to us...

*End of flashbacks

TEXT: ~ 60 Years Later ~

Diana Prince (DP) is giving an educational tour to a group of art students in the museum when she catches a glimpse of someone across the museum who reminds her of Steve Trevor. She thinks her eyes are playing tricks on her, but time and again through the intervening pillars, statues, and other obstructions, she spots him musing through the museum, and she is increasingly convinced he is Steve. Her delivery of the tour becomes increasingly distracted, until she perceives he is getting ready to leave, heading in the direction of the main exit. Fearing he will disappear, she abandons the tour prematurely with a distracted, "Excuse me, I have to..." as she scampers through the crowd to try to intercept Young Trevor (YT) played by Chris Pine.

From an upper level she spots him on a lower level making his way, and in her haste to catch up with him, she contemplates hopping over the rail to drop to the lower level, but the shocked look of a young museum goer makes her reconsider, and she scurries hurriedly down the stairs instead.

At last she emerges through a row of pillars ahead of YT, intercepting him, face to face at a distance of 10 feet or so. YT, who has been strolling towards an exit, adjusts his course to avoid walking into her. She side steps to stay in his way. He adjusts to the other side to pass by her on the other side, slightly crashing into her.

YT: "Excuse me," he says politely, and somewhat bemused, as he attempts to continue on his way, which she is blocking.

DP: (squints, tilts head, not quite sure she has found who she thinks she has) "Steve?"

YT: Have we met?

DP: (growing more certain she has found ST, but confused by his lack of recognition; frowns in thought, baffled)

YT: (Trying to make the unusual encounter less awkward, offers his hand). "I'm Steve." (Adds, half to himself) "...Which you already seem to know." (YT continues, as DP is dumbfounded.) "And you are...?"

DP: (deep in thought, trying to figure out what is going on) "I am *Diana*." (and continues by reflex, tentatively, in a quiet voice, hoping it will trigger a memory, but not wanting to appear too crazy). "...princess...of Themyscira."

YT: (deciding DP is delusional but hopefully harmless, he humors her and makes his escape). Nice meeting you... princess. If you will excuse me. (as he walks past)

DP: (collects her thoughts for a moment, then turns around to face towards YT's back as he is walking away. In a strong confident voice she says,) "Steve Trevor."

YT: (Stops in his tracks and slowly turns back to face her, 10 feet away. Impressed, but confused as to how she knows his full name)

DP: (Thinking this is her last chance to ring a bell, decides to lay her cards on the table before the moment slips away). Steve Trevor, World War I spy for the British allies, (and then adds tentatively) killed at the end of the war on a mission to thwart a gas attack. (Her voice trailing off)

YT: (Takes a step toward her. Impressed again; quizzical. Thinking that DP might be more idiot-savant than crazy) My great uncle? You've, heard of him?

DP: (suspicious that YT is trying to hide his identity). You look *alot* like your..."great uncle."

YT: He's something of a family hero, but he's not exactly in the history books. (with a hint of incredulity) You've, seen a photo of him?

DP: I saw your great uncle... (still trying to figure out what is going on, lost in her thoughts, beholding a flashback face and then the face before her now, in a half voice she continues, almost to herself) ...with my own eyes.

YT: (Raises a hand, half to signal goodbye, half to ward off the crazies, stepping backwards, decides this is way over his head.) Nice meeting you... princess. (Turns and walks away. Gives a quick look back to make sure she is not following.)

DP: (Stands in place, watching him walk away. Her mind assessing, confused, still not sure if he is really ST, or what is up with him. She takes a step to follow him, but checks herself, unsure of everything)

*End of scene*

*Then, Evil Brewing scene: The super villain(ess) describes the MacGuffin and how they need to gather its pieces to put it together.

*Then: Second encounter of DP and YT:

YT is back at the museum, doing research on something; he needs to be there. He looks around warily to see if DP is anywhere to be seen, and breathes a sigh of relief that she is not to be seen. After a moment he looks up from his work and spots DP who is going about her work at the museum. He cringes to avoid her, stepping behind an obstruction, etc.

DP has decided she overwhelmed YT on their first encounter, and she has resolved to play it cool. She passes right by him without batting an eye while she is engaged in a conversation with someone who needs her assistance. YT decides he is not in imminent danger of another unsettling encounter, and he returns to his research, looking up from time to time, increasingly impressed to see that DP is a competent professional engaging with the people who need her help, giving them expert direction and laughing amicably with the people with whom she interacts.

From time to time DP also makes eye contact with YT inadvertantly, but makes no approach, and continues about her business. YT decides DP is safe, and decides to approach her.

YT: You work here?

DP: Director of Antiquities.

YT: A history buff? That would explain a lot.

DP: I apologise if I-

YT: (seeking to spare her an apology he changes the conversation) I was named after my great uncle, the war hero. We never found out how he died; just a letter of condolence and a medal of highest honor from the War Office [or whatever]. How do you know about him? You said something about a gas attack?

DP: (not sure where this is going, but starting to think she might have a chance to get to the bottom of the mystery; she is still not convinced YT is not Steve Trevor of old). We have access to alot of resources here... (formulating a idea) Why don't you come to my office.

YT begins to be suspicious again, hoping things will not get weird. He cautiously decides to go along. DP's office is underground in a somewhat secluded level of the building without many people around. As they approach its entrance we hear the tail end of their conversation.

YT: He blew up a plane?

DP: He was *in* the plane. (as they enter the office, she gestures for YT to take a seat while she closes the door. As she takes her seat at her desk, YT reaches over and reopens the door so he is not locked in with a possible loony, and he retakes his seat. DP continues) ...which raises the question of what you are doing here. (quizzical and suspicious, and a little ominous)

YT: I'm researching [blah mundane].

DP: Is that so. (DP stands up and starts to pace, looking quizzically at YT, wishing she could be sure who he is and what he is doing)

YT: Yeah, I [blah blah mundane]. (YT is increasing uneasy, feeling like he is being scrutinized.)

DP: Is that so. (She opens a case in her office where the lasso of truth rests. She gives it a look but then decides against it and shuts the case)

YT: (glancing at his watch) Say, I've really got to be going, thanks for all your -

DP: (Opens the case and tosses the lasso onto her desktop.)

YT: Nice...whip?

DP: Lasso.

YT: As I was saying-

DP: (closes the door as she passes by.) If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a couple questions.

DP continues her walk circling behind where YT is seated, quasi interrogation style, but still socially acceptable.

YT: Shoot. (pulls at his collar nervously and adds, to himself) ...metaphorically. (YT reaches over and casually reopens the door again as DP has stepped away from it. DP gives him a look.) "Getting hot in here." he says in explanation.

DP: How old are you?

YT: (surprised by the question, but not adverse to answering) 36.

DP: In what century were you born?

YT: What country?

DP: What century.

YT: I was born (searching) 36 years ago(?) (he offers)

DP: Are you sure?

YT: I was a baby at the time, but that's what they tell me.

DP: That's the problem, you see: false memories, but I am seeking for truth. (DP sits at her desk, fiddles with the lasso; she wishes she could use it in some discreet unnoticeable manner).

YT: I have a driver's license. (YT shifts in his chair as though to bring it forth)

DP: Look at the exquisite work on this artifact. (she says, hoping to get him inadvertantly wrapped). Here take a look at this. (She pushes it across the desktop closer to him)

YT: Yes, impressive. (Being sure not to touch it)

DP: Go ahead, pick it up.

YT: I'm good. (Too suspicious of anything she is offering)

DP: Feel how strong it is, try wrapping it around your arm. (She tosses a strand in his lap)

YT: (half-jumps in his seat, startled as though someone dropped a snake on him)

DP: (hoping YT is sufficiently handling the lasso) When were you born again?

YT: (Brushing aside the lasso with annoyance and a bit of horror). Here's my license! (digging unsuccessfully for his wallet).

DP: No, no. I believe you (she says, not believing him. There is a tense silence until DP formulates her final approach. She remarks pleasantly,) That's a very fine shirt you're wearing; do you know what cuff size is that?

YT: Cuff size? (YT is flattered by the compliment, but losing patience with the randomness)

DP: (coming over to his side of the desk) Would you mind if I measure your cuff? ...with this? (She knows she is grasping at straws here, but she is going for it. She goes to wrap the lasso gingerly around his wrist, but he stands up dismissing it).

YT: (Agitated) I am 36 and I'm outta here, and I do *not* know my cuff size, and I don't want to find out.

DP: I'm sorry if I offended- (YT has left through the open doorway)

YT: (Popping his head back in.) And you may keep the door closed. (he closes it for her, exasperated).

DP slumps down in YT's chair, frustrated, and disappointed for not having found the answers she wanted.

DP: (frustrated with him and herself) I hate that man. (She grabs the lasso on her desk to put it back; it coils around her hand and she speaks the truth, in a whisper). I love him so... (She shakes her head no, and slams the case shut on the lasso to avoid the truth within her. She sits on the desktop with her arms folded, fighting back a tear.)

*End of scene*

*Brief scenes of Villain(ess) and henchmen nabbing pieces of the MacGuffin around the world. Villain(ess) says they have located the next-to-last piece of the MacGuffin at the Louvre, and they will try to get it tonight.

*Third encounter of DP and YT.

Night time. Villain(ess) and henchmen have pilfered a MacGuffin piece from the Louvre; Wonder Woman (WW) smacks them down and gets it from them; the bad guys run away. WW on a rooftop is about to head for home (with the MacGuffin piece in her possession) when she spots YT walking through the mostly deserted street at night. Her better judgement tells her to leave him alone, but then she looks at the lasso which she carries ("Don't you do it, Diana" she says to herself) and she cannot resist.

WW drops down from a building top, landing some distance behind YT, and expertly casts her lasso which wraps him to a lamp post.

YT, startled and fearful, twists to look around behind him to see his attacker, but cannot twist far enough to see who is behind him.

YT: Help!

WW would like to interrogate him without him knowing it is she. She tries to adopt a lower voice.

WW: Who are you?

YT: I'm Steve Trevor. (a little surprised that he answered so directly)

WW: That tells me nothing! Who are you really?

YT: I'm an innocent man! Just, your average kind of guy.

WW: Are you a time traveller?

YT: (Scared, hoping to appease). No!

WW: Are you some evil thing in the form of Steve Trevor? (Pulling herself closer on the rope, hand over hand)

YT: (agitated, knowing there is evil in all men) Not too evil. (sweating, hoping he is passing whatever strange test he is in)

WW: Have you come back from the dead?

YT: Not yet!

DP: Have you been to Themiscyra?

YT: Not that I am aware.

WW: (pulling harder on the rope to squeeze out the truth) Did the gods erase your memory?

YT: No! I mean, how would I know?

WW: (giving up, she puts the top of her head against the lamp post, directly behind YT's head, knowing she has hit a wall; softening, in her own voice, playing her last card, now aware that YT has been telling her the truth the whole time, she knows the answer but asks anyway) Did I see you in World War I?

YT: No, it wasn't me, honestly. (Thinking he knows who is behind this) ...Did I see you in the museum?

WW: Yes. It's me. (deflated because she has not found the ST she was hoping to find, and now embarrassed by the way it all played out. She turns and rests her back against the lamp post so they are back to back with the lamp post between them)

YT: We have to stop running into each other like this.

WW: I'm so sorry.

YT: Would you mind letting me go now?

WW: (She gives a tug on the lasso and it falls away). Don't turn around. Please. (She has no desire to be seen in her WW attire and increase the absurdity any further. Her hopes of finding ST have been dashed, and she is dispirited).

YT: (turns around, but is not able to make heads nor tails of the figure facing away from him leaning up against the lamp post. WW has given up and decides to turn herself in with a sigh of resignation; she steps, turns, and stands before him in all her dejected glory. YT, trying to put a positive spin on things to avoid further hostilities). Great...lion tamer?...outfit.

WW: You are a man of your word; I should have believed you, Steve Trevor. ...Even if you are not the Steve Trevor I was hoping for.

YT: I wish I were the hero he was, but I'm... just your average guy. (He wraps her in his long coat. Though he does not understand her fascination with his great uncle, he has pity on her, since she seems harmless and very pitiful at this moment, and he has an idea of something which may revive her spirits.). Come, I have something to show you.

*continues in Chapter 2


	2. The Window

*Cut to YT's lodgings

YT: (Takes a box from a drawer and opens it, taking out a medal on a ribbon.). This is all we have left of him, a testament to his valor.

WW: It came to you?

YT: He had no children; never married. So his brother, my grandfather, kept the tribute alive.

WW: (taking hold of it, flashes back to memories of WWI valor. Coming out of the flashback she is in tears). May I...may I have it?

YT: (Seriously considering) This is an heirloom in my family for generations. Why should I give it to you?

WW: Come, I have something to show you. (WW beckons for YT to follow as she goes to open the door out, but she pauses at the door, sensing something evil on the other side. She peeks through the peep hole and barely catches a glimpse of something that might be lurking outside the door.)

YT: Everything alright?

WW: Something followed me here. (A shadow passes by one of the windows of the room, and she runs over to look out the glass, in vain, and shuts the curtain).

YT: You'd probably better go now. (realizing he should never have brought her in)

WW: I'm sorry I may have put you in danger. (Thinks she sees another shadow pass across a second window behind YT, and she tilts instantly to try to see past him.)

YT: Are there any medications you need to take...

WW: (finger to lips, trying to hear where things are; somewhat wild-eyed)

YT: (quietly) ...right about now?

WW: (hushing him) Steve.

YT: (hushed) People call me Trev.

WW: (hushed) Trey?

YT: (hushed) Trev. As in Trevor.

WW: (in a hissing whisper) That's your last name. (all the while, WW's eyes are looking around furtively, trying to assess the threat level; she and YT are quasi motionless in their stances while the 'danger' persists.)

YT: (continuing their hushed exchange) My last name is a first name. It's not my fault.

WW: (hushed) But people should call you- oh nevermind! (She continues to try to hear something)

YT: (still hushed) It's 'Trev,' like the Trevi Fountain. In Rome.

WW: (hushed and hissing) I know where the Trevi Fountain is! (a silent pause while WW listens, but there is no sound). So does your girlfriend call you 'Trevy'?

YT: (hushed) No one calls me Trevy. It's Trev.

WW: (hushed) Like the fountain.

YT: (hushed) Without the 'i'. (Finally unhushed,) Look, it's time for you to go. (he turns his back to her as he grabs the doorknob.)

WW: (in her full voice) No, Steve!

(In slow motion, so as to *not* shock the audience in horror movie style, the window behind WW bursts into pieces and a nasty critter sucks her backwards out the window, in alien-esque fashion. YT turns around and all he sees is the shattered glass on the floor and no WW. He runs to the window)

YT: What in the?

(YT looks down three floors, and sees WW running in the darkness below. In fact, a henchman has taken the MacGuffin piece back from her, and WW runs off in pursuit of it, but YT does not know that. She makes a turn out of sight)

YT: What in-? (Steps away from the window in shock, looks around him at the disaster everywhere, glass everywhere. Says to himself sternly). *Never* talk to that woman again. Never! Ever! (hits head with fist to make it sink in)

*** end of scene

(Cut to the museum, next day. Diana Prince (DP) is seated at the main desk of the study area, quasi librarian style. She is pouring over a book until someone needs her assistance. Slow day at the museum. She looks up and YT is right in front of her.)

YT: We need to talk.

(She gives him an uncooperative look.)

YT: Meet me at your office.

DP: I'm busy.

YT: (keeping it calm). Busy? Yeah, I'm busy too, sweeping up glass and trying to tell my landlord how I blew away a perfectly good window.

DP: (serious) I don't want to get you involved -

YT: Involved? (Raising his voice and starting to lose it).

DP: It could be dangerous.

YT: The only thing dangerous in here - is you! (Exasperated and somewhat angry with her)

(Security man turns around) Everything alright Dr. Prince? (he walks over)

DP: (standing up) Yes Fred, just my cousin from America. Lost his luggage. ...With the meds.

YT: (to security) Did you know this woman is a lion tamer by night? (pointing agitatedly)

DP: (to YT) Let's go to my office.

(Security man starts to accompany them)

DP: (to security) He's harmless. (Security stops following)

YT: (says to security as he and DP walk away, pointing at DP,) She's not harmless. You better come with me.

DP: (to security) Don't mind him. (to YT) We'll call the airport and get this all sorted out. (They walk on in an explosive silence).

*Cut to DP's office.

DP unlocks the door to her office, and YT enters, in command, motioning for DP to sit in the visitor chair while he sits in DP's chair behind the desk.

DP: (miffed) That's my seat.

YT: You've got alot of 'splaining to do, so start talkin'.

DP: (playing uncooperative, like a felon being interrogated) About what?

YT: You jumped out of my window. With the window closed!

DP: (sullen) Did not. I was pulled.

YT: (taken aback). Pulled? Pulled - by *what*? (incredulous)

DP: I don't want to get you involved. The more you know-

YT: How do you fall three stories - and run away from it, like nothing?

DP: (stands and opens the door with a calm seriousness). I can't explain now, but one day you'll thank me that you never heard another word... (gravely) Please leave. (with a nod of her head towards the door to get him out)

YT: (walks quietly to the door, face to face with DP. YT calmly and firmly closes the door.). I'm not going anywhere. (partly to satisfy his curiosity, and partly because he has become committed to helping this very unusual soul). And *you* are going to tell me everything I don't know.

DP: (looks him in the eye, assessing whether it would be a good idea to tell him anything, but it still seems like a bad idea to her. She is not convinced.)

YT: ...or I will blow your cover so high. Do these people even know there's a three ring circus act in the basement?

DP: (stung, and reconsidering her options) In the words of your great uncle, 'This is a bad idea. We're probably gonna die.' (DP walks from the door, to the other corner of the room; she faces the walls). But *we* didn't die; it was just *him* that died. (She looks back at YT). And now it's going to be just you...

YT: Don't get all dramatic on me. How do you know my great uncle? (demanding answers firmly, but without hostility. DP hunkers down in the corner, facing the walls, wishing YT never existed. YT sits in the chair behind the desk). And why - why do you know so much about him? Was he the subject of your thesis or something? Why do you even care?

DP: (holds her fingers to her temples, trying to tune out the verbal barrage. Her mind turns to Steve Trevor of old, but in no way will she share the story.)

YT: I mean, it's not like you even knew him or anything -

DP: (bites her fisted knuckles, to hold in the answers to all YT's incessant questions.)

YT: You owe me an explanation. You owe me alot of explanations. About - everything.

DP: (is caught between too many hard places, and every move would be wrong. She turns to face YT, and seeing him does not help. Wounded, she says) Do you realize how painful it is for me to see...you...right in front of me...(suddenly frustrated) and...

YT: And...I'm not him.

DP: (puts hand over mouth, and a tiny convulsion shakes her frame. She turns away again)

YT: You said I looked just like him. (squinty, trying to figure this out) It's almost like you're in love with him. (DP is wracked by a sob. YT puts two pieces of the puzzle together in his mind). Oh. My. Gosh. (but it still makes no sense.) How is that even possible? You never even s... (He stares away to the other side of the room, re-running all the data in his mind to find any thread which could tie the many oddities together coherently. And then he remembers something.)

YT: What did you mean when you said you saw him, 'with your own eyes'?

DP: (can only manage one word) Please...

YT: (tries to put the rest of the pieces together, but they don't fit). That was a long time ago.

DP: Go. (And then managing just a whisper) And never come back. (But YT is not going. DP turns to YT, in tears, there is so much she cannot say. And she so wants to keep him out of it lest he follow the fate of his namesake on her account. She feels some responsibility for the first Steve's death; she does not want to do it again.)

YT: (more baffled than ever, but realizing he has touched the third rail, decides to retreat for the time being. Confused, looking back at DP with every step, he makes his way to the door. He stands in the doorway, looking back, trying to make sense of it all)

DP: (manages to walk to the door, only to usher him out and make sure he goes)

YT: (slowly) You are the time traveller. Aren't you.

DP: (not up for speaking, shakes head no)

YT: (giving it more thought, he tries theory number two. Asks again slowly, with ominous suspicion). How old are *you*.

DP: (cannot hide a faint smile because YT has gotten it right. But then she plays serious and manages a sassy flip of her head and says) I'm 29. (kindly,) Now get out of here.

YT: (gravely pondering for a moment, then, ominously again) I bet you've been 29 for quite a while now, haven't you.

DP: (smiles. Trying to speak with confidence, but her voice is still a bit broken from the crying). What if I like it that way.

YT: (trying theory Two B) Vampire?

DP: (laughs, shakes head)

YT: (slowly, thoughtfully) I don't understand who you are, or what you are...but I can see how you have a problem.

DP: (taken aback. Squints, tilts head quizzically)

YT: Everyone you love dies. But you live on.

DP: (turns white as a ghost, horrified that YT has hit the nail on the head, putting it in words that she herself had not even realized, so succinctly)

YT: I'm sorry. (Decides it is time to break up this little chat in the doorway. Takes a step to walk away, but then turns back with a hopeful thought, to finish on a happier note). Isn't there someone else like you, one of your kind...that you could live happily ever after...

DP: (says it, as hiding from YT was futile) The other gods are all dead now.

YT: (turned to stone. DP locks her office from the outside. YT in shock babbles). What? How can you say something like that?

DP: (DP is heading to pass by YT as she makes her way down the hall. She stands to face YT for a moment, to lay it on him). Because I killed the last one.

(YT astounded, just watches her walk away down the hall.)

DP: (in a louder voice as she is walking away, so YT can hear. Confidently) ...and he was not my type anyway.

*end of scene


	3. To America

Diana Prince (DP) receives a summons to present her findings on the MacGuffin at the Pentagon. "Can I bring an assistant?" she asks. Her boss tells her, "Take your pick."

Our scene takes place inside the airplane bound for America, as the passengers are finding their seats. Young Trevor (YT) enters the row first, Diana Prince right behind him.

YT: Did you want the window?

DP: I'm fine.

YT: Sure?

DP: I may need to get up. (after they are settled in their seats) Thank you so much for coming.

YT: The truth is, I need to be out of my apartment for a few days.

DP: Really?

YT: Yeah. Until they can -, uh. (does not want to mention the window WW broke, so tries to talk around it) ...It's just...kind of chilly in there right now... (DP gives him a passing look like "that's funny") At night. With the cold air. Coming in.

DP: Coming in where?

YT: (surprised that DP does not remember) The window.

DP: (oblivious. Thinking YT is clueless) Just shut it.

YT: (pauses a moment, decides not to respond. Changes the subject) Thanks for inviting me; I hope I am a useful "research assistant."

DP: (sharing a secret, discreetly) You know me...better than most people. That can be *very useful*.

YT: How so?

DP: (discreetly) I may need you to cover for me.

YT: (thinks, and then gets it) If you...need to tame some lions.

DP: (small laugh, nods)

YT: I've got your back.

DP: (warmly) Thanks. You're a good man, Trev. (squeezes his forearm in appreciation.) Better than you know.

YT: That reminds me. I've been thinking about something you said...and...I think you're right.

DP: Yes? (attentive, and humbly supporting; she knows it's hard for men to admit they're wrong)

YT: 'False memories' you called it.

DP: (Sits up, it's a big topic and not one she was expecting. Not sure where he is going with this)

YT: Let me see if I've got this right... Let's say someone, or some *thing*, takes away all your memories and replaces them. You'd never know it, right?

DP: (slowly cautious, but still sympathetic) I suppoooose so...

YT: So for all I know... (Gives DP a meaningful look like "Do you get it?")

DP: (looks back at YT blankly, and then realizes where he's going with this, and she changes her look to "seriously?" She tries to gently dissuade him in a kindly singsong mode). Oooh, nooo, Trev Trevor. Nooo false memories for yooou.

YT: Why not?

DP: Because I like you *juuust* the way you aaare.

YT: Hear me out -

DP: I- don't *waaant* to hear you out.

YT: Let me finish.

DP: Because I know what you're going to say.

YT: No you don't.

DP: (singing) Yes I doo-oo.

YT: So I was thinking-

DP: (like a mom reassuring her little child, cheerfully). Aaaall your memories, your mommm and daaad, the birrrthday parties, they're all true. Goood memories. (Said like "good doggie"). Good memories, Trev.

YT: Call me 'Steve.'

DP: (keeping up the happy smiley approach as she shoots him down with a smile) I will *not* call you 'Steve.'

YT: Why not?

DP: (losing all the happy. Hissing,) Because it's not your name!

YT: (a brief silence after her nastygram. Then YT responds). It *is* my name.

DP: No it's - (reconsidering amicably) Oh. I guess it is. (Stares daggers at him) But I won't call you that anyway!

YT: I've been having...flashbacks.

DP: (one eyebrow raised. She's not buying it, but she's willing to listen. Deadpan,). Flashbacks.

YT: Yeah, flashbacks-

DP: Of what? (deadpan)

YT: (somewhat awkward/reluctant to say it) ...You. Me. (then with more confidence) World War I.

DP: (large, dramatic) Ohhhh my goodness!

YT: Ask me anything.

DP: About what? (suspicious, alarmed even)

YT: Anything. The war. I know it all, the battles, the weapons, the generals...

DP: How long have you been studying World War I?

YT: Not long. I mean, I just know these things.

DP: What color dress did I wear to the gala? (willing to play along with him for now)

YT: (thinking, buying time) The gala. ...The World War I gala...

DP: You said you know...

YT: World War I...trench warfare, poison gas... It was a horrible war...horrible. And, and there were no galas. What kind of a trick question is that?! There was no gala in WWI!

DP: The Armistice Gala.

YT: Oh, the Armistice Gala. -You're counting *that*.

DP: Uh huh (nodding slowly to coax an answer out of YT)

YT: I'll...never forget that. The *gala*... (painting a misty picture) And, and *you* - I'll never forget the way you looked that night.

DP: Afternoon.

YT: Right. Afternoon... But then later it turned *night*.

DP: You are so full of soap. (Rolling eyes. She's amused and can hardly keep a straight face)

YT: (continues painting the misty picture) Full moon, your eyes... the way you looked; the light shining on your-

DP: The dress. (bringing him back on topic)

YT: The what?

DP: What color.

YT: (takes a moment to look at her and her tones before making his guess). It was *the* most beautiful, red dress, I have ever seen.

DP: Why thank you. (because YT said it so nicely it seemed like a compliment, even though it was wrong).

YT: See. I knew it.

DP: It wasn't red.

YT: Well not *all* of it.

DP: None of it.

YT: (a moment of silence while he regroups, and then, leaning closer to her) Look, maybe I was a little colorblind, but the time warp fixed all that and -

DP: (coldly) I've had enough of this. (She leans away from him, turning her back, and starting a conversation with a little girl across the aisle from her who is reading a giant sized book). Hi there little girl, I'm Diana, what's your name?

YT: (meanwhile YT continues his love-struck rambling) and now I see as good as anybody. Besides, I was only looking at you, so I hardly saw anything else- (he continues leaning into DP's space.)

GIRL: I'm Sally.

DP: I really like that big book you have, Sally. Can I see it for a minute?

GIRL: I guess so.

DP: (takes the giant thin flat book and jams it between her and YT so it makes a wall, dividing their seats. DP continues in a fake happy/enthusiastic tone) It's so *useful* for so many things.

YT: (takes a hint and picks up a magazine to read. A bit of silence and then,) You can take that down.

DP: That book is going *nowhere*.

GIRL: Can I have my book back now?

DP: (Crosses her arms, fuming.)

YT: (Nonchalantly as he reads the magazine.) Give her her book back.

DP: (smoke rising from ears, as it were)

GIRL: Give me my book! Give me my book!

GIRL's MOTHER: Excuse me Miss, could you-

YT: (grabs the book and leans across DP to hand it across the aisle to the little girl and/or her mom)

GIRL: Yay!

GIRL's MOTHER: Thank you, sir.

YT: (but alas, the hand-off is not smooth, and the book falls in the aisle, and YT is crawling all over DP as he tries to rescue the book)

DP: Get! off! of! me! (She reaches up and pushes the button for the Stewardess)

YT: (completes the hand off and goes back to his magazine. Girl reads her book happily. Mother gives YT an appreciative thumbs up, mouthing a big silent "thank you!")

Stewardess: (arriving, to DP) Everything alright, ma'am?

DP: (looks around but all the evidence is gone. She cocks her head toward YT, trying to signal to the stewardess that she is unpleased with the person sitting next to her, but the stewardess doesn't get it)

GIRL: That lady stole my book.

DP: (to the stewardess) How long till we land?

Stewardess:. We haven't taken off yet, ma'am. It's an eight hour flight.

DP: I need to change my seat.

Stewardess: I'm sorry ma'am; this is a full flight. (Stewardess moves on)

DP: (checks YT and he is minding his business, reading his magazine. DP lets out a big sigh shakes head and takes out her nail file to settle herself down. To YT,) I don't want to hear another word out of you for the next eight hours.

YT: (ignores her, reading mag... Some silence, then YT chuckles at something humorous he reads)

DP: (looks over, interested, then looks back to her hands)

YT: (shakes his head at what he's reading, chuckles again)

DP: Whatcha readin'?

YT: (looks up at her, with a certain hurt sadness)

DP: (giving him good advice) Talk to me. Just...don't say anything stupid.

YT: (puppy dog) That's harder than you think.

DP: (trying to help YT along the right path). Let me tell you something. (Leaning into his shoulder and whispering,) I'm older than your mother.

YT: (without conviction) That's ok.

DP: (looks YT in the eye) I'm older than your grandmother's grandmother.

YT: (sitting up, pulls back from DP) You're creeping me out here.

DP: (tossles YT's hair as if he were a little boy. Playfully,) That's why we does it, 'Steve.'

YT: I'm Trev.

DP: (going back to her nail filing). I'm glad.

YT: (looks out the window)

DP: (happy they have an understanding, and they are at peace with one another). It was blue.

YT: Blue?

DP: The dress.

YT: (looks back at DP, considering. He says approvingly,) Blue would be fine. (Looks back out the window). But you'd look better in red.

DP: Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

YT: ...Red. Like a fine wine... And you know what they say about fine wines. (still facing out the window)

DP: (shakes head because he amuses her so. She cannot hide a smile. Quietly, to herself, and playfully,) Next time I'm taking my own jet.

YT: (looks over with a priceless expression, wondering if DP could be serious)

*end of scene


	4. Fearless Leaders

*Halls of the White House, Diana Prince (DP) accompanied by Young Trevor (YT) walks along, escorted by secret service and some officials.

YT: Are you nervous?

DP: I've briefed generals before.

YT: What was it like?

DP: (flashback to WW2017, the British general saying, "Who *is* this woman?" and Steve Trevor pushing her, as she rails at the general). It went great. (she says, trying to pep talk herself)

YT: (to one of the officials walking with them) Why are we at the White House? I thought this was for the Pentagon.

Official_Smith: Dutch said he wanted to hear this himself. I hope it's good.

DP: Who's 'Dutch'?

(Security opens the big wooden double doors to reveal the oval office, with Reagan seated at the desk and a semi-circle of generals and officials seated on either side. It's an 80's film; it has to have Reagan, and it has to be a digital recreation that looks just like him, not an actor playing him. The audience has to gasp and say, 'They brought Reagan back!")

Official_Smith: Mr. President, may I present Dr. Diana Prince, Director of Antiquities from the Louvre.

RR: (rises, comes over to clasp Diana's hand). Welcome Dr. Prince.

DP: 'Diana,' please. A pleasure to meet you, sir. This is my first trip to America.

RR: Welcome to America, Diana. (to the rest of the room) Now I want you all on your best behavior. (laughter) We have to show Miss Prince why this is the greatest country in the world.

DP: Honored to be here.

RR: I've been looking forward to hearing you. The floor is yours. (RR shakes YT's and a few more hands as he returns to his seat, the lights dim, and DP's presentation is projected somewhere somehow, 80's style.)

DP: [blah blah, we discovered and soon thereafter lost a piece of the MacGuffin at the Louvre, and it will tip the scales of the Cold War unless we get the last piece before the Soviets do.]

General: Did you say 'MacGuffin'?

DP: That's right, 'MacGuffin.'

(The room grows eerily silent while the attendees whisper among themselves, "MacGuffin, MacGuffin.")

RR: (The lights come up and RR makes a stirring speech in Reaganesque style as to why the American way of life, of truth, justice, and freedom must prevail over the evil empire of lies, enslavement, and hate. "And I will order our most illustrious team of special agents to immediately find, secure, and bring back the MacGuffin at any cost, to preserve our way of life." Applause.)

(The room begins to empty as secret service escorts the president to his next appointment. RR stops to thank DP on his way out.)

RR: Thank you, Diana, for all your hard work. Our country owes you a debt of gratitude.

DP: Glad to be of service, sir. And I might know an agent or two who will be glad to provide support for your team on this important mission.

RR: Thank you, thanks again. All the best to you. It was a pleasure meeting you- (but he has forgotten her name) uh, and your name is?

DP: (somewhere in her demigoddess brain, DP knows RR's condition, and with tender compassion and warm encouragement she says, clasping his hands) Best of luck to you, sir, with everything.

RR: 'Diana'. ...That's it. Best of luck to you too, Diana.

DP: It's my first time in America.

RR: (hears it as though for the first time) Oh how wonderful. We're so glad to welcome you.

DP: (warmly and without condescension) And I think you have the *best* president in the whole world.

RR: I promise I won't tell Gorbachev.

DP: (laughs)

RR: Or maybe I will. (they laugh together)

*Cut to DP and YT walking on the streets of DC.

YT: So how do you think it went?

DP: Much better than the last time I briefed a room full of generals.

YT: And a president, this time.

DP: I wasn't expecting that. Which is good - I would have been so nervous going in.

YT: Reagan's a nice guy. Hey look, there he goes again. (RR is coming out of an office building in front of them.) Twice in one day!

RR: (He spots them as the secret service are escorting him towards the limousine. He waves with a smile as he passes right by.) Diana. Trevor.

SS: Step aside please. Ma'am. Sir. (DP and YT step back while RR et al. pass by them on their way to the limousine parked nearby.)

YT: (as he and DP continue on their way, opposite the direction of the president) He remembered my name.

DP: What a charming man. I like him.

(suddenly, behind them, gunfire is heard, and DP and YT turn around to see the president falling to the ground with a cluster of secret service around him, and the assailant pinned to the ground. DP takes a step towards the horrific scene, then she just falls to her knees as the limo speeds away).

DP: Noooo! Noooo. Why would anyone do that? Why? (buries face in hands)

YT: (Gets down to comfort her, but there are no words to be said. And the camera pulls back from the sorrowful scene)

*cut to the operating room. Large team of docs and nurses surrounding the patient, all very ad hoc, under the circumstances.

Doc: [blah blah medical]

Doc2: It doesn't look good.

Doc: I'm afraid there's not much we can do at this point.

DP: (with surgical mask and garb, looking quite the surgeon, steps forward from the back row). Why don't we [blah blah medical]

Doc: Be my guest.

Doc2: (to Doc1, quietly so as not to be rude). Who is she again?

Doc: She's with the president's team. I think she said.

DP: Mr. President, we're going to put you under for a little while, while I try to [blah medical]

RR: (clasps DP's forearm). Are you a republican?

DP: We're all republican today, sir.

RR: Tell Nancy I'm sorry. I forgot to duck.

(DP, docs and nurses doing their thing etc...)

*cut to DP alone on the hotel rooftop at night, looking out at the city skyline, the Washington Monument looming in the distance.

YT: (approaching). There you are. I've been looking for you all afternoon.

DP: (at the end of a long horrid day, she has become calm, philosophical) It makes no sense... The hate... The violence... No reason at all. (she looks to YT for an answer, but no one has the answer to these questions)

YT: Come. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

DP: ...what can we do...

YT: We can only do our very little part...and let everyone else do their very little part. Don't think about the world or you'll go crazy. Just think about what's in your reach.

DP: (Stretches a hand of spread fingers over the city.) I wish I could reach each one.

(And the two shadowy figures make their way)

*end of scene

*a lighter scene: the Villain(ess) is trying to take over the USA while RR is out of action. This sets the stage for a fight scene, somewhere in DC (White House?). YT is unaccompanied while various bad guys (super villains(ess) and henchmen) take their positions. YT is unseen and not a target, but he senses he is in the middle of where alot of bad things are about to happen. Suddenly Wonder Woman (WW) drops down from a rooftop or other elevation, landing next to him. It's the first time he's seen her outfit in good light.

YT: (startled, then recognizing her, then giving her outfit a good look. With approval,) I like the red.

WW: Thanks. (appreciative, and then she switches into serious mode. Looks around assessing the situation.) We need to [blah blah tactical].

YT: Not going to be easy. Do you have any...powers to go along with the outfit?

WW: The outfit *is* the power.

YT: (gives a look like "seriously?") We're going to need more than just style here, sweetheart.

WW: (blocks a bullet in front of YT's face. It's the first bullet of the battle, probably intended for her.)

YT: (after reacting) Stylish and practical. I like it.

WW: And it's comfortable too. (She leaps straight up onto something above them)

YT: Jump boots?

WW: That was all me. (and off she runs)

*fighting etc, until they meet up again during the battle. Both of them exhausted, taking a breather where they find themselves in a safe place for the moment.

YT:. It must be nice. Being able to do so much.

WW: It's a blessing. (quieter)...and a curse.

YT: (looks over at her for a response)

WW: Sometimes I wish I were ordinary. Just like you. -no offense.

YT: None taken. (very quietly only to himself) sometimes I wish I were freaky...

WW: (continues, oblivious) I wish I could have a normal life...you know: fall in love, make some babies...have breakfast, go to work...grow old together.

YT: Sounds nice.

WW: I'm no good at the 'grow old' part. I can do incredible things, but the most natural thing, I can't do. (pauses, growing sad) I lose everybody.

YT: (sincerely, with sympathy) Who knew dying was such a skill.

WW: I can die.

YT: I thought you were a god?

WW: The gods died, and I'm only half a god.

YT: (gives her a look to tell the story)

WW: I used to think I was just a regular amazon.

YT: A *regular* amazon.

WW: Yeah, maybe not even as good as the regular ones. But then I met this guy. And he says Zeus is my father. And then some strange things started happening.

YT: (priceless look as he thinks "you're telling me")

WW: So I think it's all true.

YT: I think it's true too. (being sympathetic, and based on everything he's seen so far). But you shouldn't believe everything a guy tells you.

WW: I used the lasso. (proud of herself)

*speaking of which, a bad guy shows up and she starts lassoing, and the fight scene proceeds to its end. WW prevents Villain(ess) from taking over the reins of government. That is, WW saves the USA from a (somewhat clandestine) coup. At some point in the fight, WW uses the lasso of truth to learn from the Villain(ess) that the last missing piece of the MacGuffin lies in the Vatican archives.)

*end of scene

*Vatican scene.

*WW has gone to the storage level of the Vatican museum to find the last MacGuffin piece. It's daytime. She slinks around with cowl, thinking she might be being followed, since the bad guys are also seeking the same thing. She sees shadows around every corner, but pilfers what she needs, and makes her way out of the building's door, into the daylight, thinking she is in the clear, when suddenly a halberd comes right in front of her face.

Swiss Guard: Are you lost, sister? (She is wearing the cowl)

WW: Scusi. (hoping to be on her way without further explanation)

Swiss Guard: (blocking her way with the wood of the halberd). What were you doing in there.

WW: Are there any confessions today?

Swiss Guard: (after a suspicious pause) Try the basilica. (and he points the way across the complex)

WW: (makes her way across St. Peter's square, the Swiss Guard keeping a suspicious eye on her from his vantage point all the way. She enters the basilica and wanders throughout its cavernous interior, planning to be on her way after a few minutes.)

Bad guy: (behind her shoulder) Sia lodato Gesu Cristo. (they are both facing an artwork depicting Christ, above one of the side altars)

WW: Sempre sia lodato.

Bad guy: (coming beside her, they both still face the altar). It's a sin to steal...sister. Let me help you put back what you took, where it belongs. (He holds out his hand for the MacGuffin piece)

WW: It belongs...in a safe place. (and she's off, into the crowd, weaving here and there, bumping into a variety of bad guys but no fisticuffs. She disappears in a group of similarly dressed nuns and the bad guys corner one of them, who turns out not to be WW.

WW: (spots a confessional in the basilica marked for Polish speaking pilgrims. She ducks in for a temporary hiding place)

JP: (it's an 80's film so it has to have Pope John Paul II in it. He was known to hear confessions in the basilica under cover, each year.) Laudetur Iesus Christus. (says a strong low voice with a Polish accent from the other side of the grill)

WW: In saecula saeculorum. Amen. Excuse me father, I am not here to confess.

JP: Perhaps God has brought you here for a reason, even so. Is there something troubling your soul?

WW: (peeking out the curtain, spots some bad guys and closes the curtain again) Right now there are about five things troubling me. (objecting to his reference to God,) And I'm afraid all the gods have died, so I'm on my own.

JP: If it died, it was not God. Even the angels never die.

WW: (considering what JP has said) Just we humans, then? We are the only lucky ones to die. (she is bitter about losing the humans she loves)

JP: Die? (Shades of Gandalf talking to Pippin). Oh no: we leave this world for our true home, but never die. We are immortal spirits, made in the image of the Immortal Spirit. And God has placed his Spirit in *you*.

WW: If someone dies...is there a chance...would it be possible for me to see them again?

JP: We shall all meet in God.

WW: (ready to leave) Thank you father, you have given me some hope.

JP: And you say a prayer for me.

WW: Yes, father. (she gets up to leave, still behind the curtain though)

JP: (and because he is St. John Paul, he has a few more things to say) ...Do not fear, you will find him again. Indeed you never lost him. He is with you always, even now.

WW: (pauses for a thought, but does not reply. She peeks out the curtain, and at every Exit she sees a bad guy stationed.)

JP: And something tells me I should mention to you: the stairs inside the pillar of St. Longinus will take you straight to the rooftop. If that makes sense. It's a glorious day God has made, why don't you breathe the fresh air.

WW: (spots pilgrims entering the stairway inside the massive hollowed pillar.) That's just what I was looking for. Thank you...

JP: Go in peace.

(WW leaves unobtrusively, making her way to the pillar staircase, while two Swiss guards and a cleric handler have stationed themselves outside the confessional to bring the pope to his next appointment. "It's time to go, your holiness." John Paul II emerges from the confessional, and takes time to greet the pilgrims there. This should be portrayed by a digital JP and not just an actor playing JP, so the audience will gasp, "oh my goodness, they brought back John Paul!" He was in fine form in the 80's, young, vigorous, with a twinkle in his eye.)

WW ascends the narrow spiral stairs until she emerges in the bright light of day. She looks up with a new sense of hope, and she takes a moment to breathe the air and look out over the square below. The pope has come out to greet the pilgrims there. WW takes out the MacGuffin piece to make sure she still has it, when suddenly shots ring out from the square below. WW looks around the rooftop, but then realizes she is not the target. She looks down into the square and sees the popemobile cutting through the crowd on its way to the hospital...and the security detail apprehending the shooter. There's nothing left for WW to do but cry, as she looks down like the Madonna on her children below.

WW: "Noooo! ...why? ...why?" (she cries, stretching out her arms with spread fingers over the people... But there are no answers...and she ends her agony crumpled up in a corner on the rooftop...as the scene fades to black...)

*end of scene


	5. Underground

*Scene: Gemelli Hospital, where John Paul (JP) is convalescing. Daytime. Wonder Woman (WW) bypasses security by entering through the window. Wears cowl.

WW: (comes slowly to JP's bedside. He appears to be unconscious. She touches his arm, leans closer and says softly) Just wanted to see how you're doing...and say thank you. Thanks for all the good you've done. (she adds one last thought) I wish there were something I could do. (She plants a kiss on his forehead and turns to exit.)

JP: Sister...

WW: (turns back to JP) Yes? (puts her ear near his faint voice.)

JP: Take a message to Lech Walesa. Take a message to my people: "I beg you - never, lose hope, never doubt...never tire...and never lose courage. Do not be afraid."

WW: I will. I promise. If I can.

JP: You got to the pope through the window. I'm sure you can get to Lech.

WW: (there is a noise in the room as someone is approaching. WW exits via the window)

Nurse: (assessing) See, he's still sleeping...

*end of scene

*Scene: Poland.

A prison at night. A hooded figure furtively makes its way down a long corridor. Stops at a cell and opens the door. Close up of the face of a sleeping man with a big mustache. Then a hooded face comes beside his.

WW: Chodź (Come)

Lech: (Opens eyes, startled/confused)

WW: (Finger to lips) Follow me.

Distance shot of the whole prison in the moonlight...

*Cut to a clandestine meeting of Solidarity leaders. Twenty or so people in a fairly small room, with Lech and WW standing.

WW: ...He says to never lose hope. (Close-up of one of the men with head hung low, now raising it up to listen) Never doubt. (Fade to a shot of coal workers hauling heavy loads while evil taskmasters stand by with batons, one starts to hit a worker) Never tire. (shot of Lech leading a march, WW marching in front as well, holding hands with the people next to her as she marches, while soldiers with rifles line the periphery, sound of shots) Never lose courage. (shot of WW treating a man's wounds in a house while his wife and children surround him; she winds a bandage around his head which covers his eyes. WW embraces the wife; as WW goes to leave, she puts her hand on the shoulder of the eldest child, and whispers, "Do not be afraid...")

*Cut to a large rally; WW, sans cowl, stands along with Lech and others on the platform. WW is proudly representing truth, justice, and the Amazonian way, with her hands on her hips while Lech addresses the people.

Lech: ...I am not strong. You are not strong. But if all of us, each one, if we each do our part, together we are stronger than any super power. Together, we will stop the violence, we will stop the injustice. We will stop the whole country till we make it our own. We will stop the mines, we will stop the factories, we will stop the shipyards. Poland has not yet perished, so long as we still live. What the alien force has taken from us by force, we shall restore by peace. Tomorrow we declare a strike, for freedom, for justice, for our people! (cheers)

*Cut to Scene of a strike taking place at a coal mine. Lots of workers sitting at the entrance to a mine. Soldiers encircling the strikers with rifles. Some women are walking among the strikers, bringing them food. A child in tow here or there. WW is also walking among the strikers, hooded, helping as she can. She carries a basket of bread handing buns as she walks down a row. Each one says "Dzięki (thanks)" until one voice says in English "Thanks." WW cannot see the face of the seated figure under his cap. She turns to him and gets down to his level.

YT: Hi there.

WW: What are you doing here?

YT: Shhhh... Dutch has a ton of his men here. Half these guys don't know a pickaxe from a coalcar.

WW: How'd you get here?

YT: I volunteered. It's a good cause. I dropped your name, and here I am.

WW: Why? (she sits down next to YT)

YT: This is *so* *much* more fun than writing research papers. No wonder you do this stuff.

WW: It's dangerous Trev. For my sake, let's get you out of here.

YT: For your sake?

WW: (dryly ominous). So I'm not responsible for your death.

YT: (looks innocent)

WW: I know you're here on my account.

YT: Somebody's got to cover for you.

(A young mom, one of the villagers, passes in front of WW/YT, calling for her husband, very distressed)

WW: What's wrong? (in Polish)

Mom: They took my little boy. They took him into the mine! (in Polish)

WW: Who did?

Mom: It was...monster. (actually the super villain(ess) of the film, whoever that may be).

WW: Do not trouble your husband. I will help.

Mom: You?

WW: (opens her cloak to reveal a bit of her costume)

Mom: ...The Wonder Woman... (in Polish)

WW: (starts to head toward the mine entrance.)

YT: Where are you going?

WW: [Villain(ess)] took her son.

YT: That's strange. (quickly adding things up). Stop Diana, they don't want the boy; they want you!

WW: (looks back at him with a brief sigh of frustration because he's probably right. Then she looks at the weeping mother and says) I'm going down.

YT: (under his breath) Let's hope not. (and he follows after her, into the mine)

*cut to WW and YT walking along a dark mine shaft; YT carries a flashlight. WW is calling for the boy, but YT walks in silent caution.

WW: Hallo... Little boy... Mama is worried for you... (in Polish)

(There is a sound which makes YT jumpy, but then nothing, and then a little voice)

Boy: Mama?

(the flashlight reveals a tiny figure up ahead, and WW scurries forward to meet him, getting down to his level)

Boy: Mama?

WW: Let's go see Mama. Are you ok?

Boy: I'm scared.

WW: (wiping away his tears). It's alright...

Boy: All alone...

WW: There's no reason to cry anymore. Here we are together...right? (She scoops him up for carrying, and the little boy wraps his arms around her neck). Be brave. (and then, rallying him to manly courage, she says) Spunk! (He looks her in the eye; she says again,) Spunk! (and he giggles.)

(suddenly a very bright light illuminates the trio, blinding their eyes. It comes from where they had already walked, as though someone had slipped in behind them on their way down, and now is cutting off their return to the surface. A voice comes from the light source)

Evil: No good deed should go unpunished.

WW: Who are you?

Evil: Welcome to Sheol.

WW: (sets the boy down.) Let the boy go. (looks over at YT) And the man.

YT: I'm staying.

Evil: I don't do good deeds.

WW: (still can't see who is talking from the bright light. She motions to YT to take the boy) Keep him safe.

(YT brings the boy safely around a corner of the mineshaft. There is an alcove there, a small chamber dug into the side of the shaft for the storing of emergency supplies).

WW: (to the evil thing) Don't worry about us then. We're going to have a blast. (crosses forearms, drops on one knee, and lets out an energy blast, Antiope style)

Here ensues the penultimate fight scene, as every good action movie should have two final fights (cf. Ludendorff and then Aries). During the fight the Villain(ess) takes the last MacGuffin piece from WW which WW had pilfered in Rome (the "safe place" where WW kept the piece was on her person). Villain(ess) plugs it into the rest of the MacGuffin to complete it. After battling in the depths of the coal mine without much dialogue, WW and the super villain(ess) conclude their battle with...

WW: (an energy blast)

Villain(ess): Muahaha, Not working! - your blast is useless against my MacGuffin powered energy shield!

WW: (energy blast again)

Villain(ess): Still not working.

WW: (third energy blast)

Villain(ess): Still not - oh.

(Mine collapses over the villain(ess), squashing him/her and any henchmen)

WW: Worked.

(But alas, the collapse has sealed off the good guys' escape route to the surface, effectively trapping them in the mine underground.)

(YT comes back from around the corner, with the little boy safe and sound. Dust fills the air. They cough.)

WW: It's gone.

YT: (surveys the collapse) ...I'm afraid we may be too. (Finding his way back to the emergency nook) Let's sit here till the dust settles.

*cut away to a shot of the strike above ground, then cut back to the trio in their nook, continuing the scene. Evidently some time has passed, without much progress towards escaping.

(WW sits with the boy in her lap, comforting him. YT is looking through the emergency items available in the nook)

YT: I wouldn't risk another blast at this point, or the whole thing might come down. Any other tricks up your sleeve?

WW: I'm afraid I don't *have* any sleeves. Nor any tricks at this point.

YT: (Sits down beside WW/boy. Resigned. Silence reigns. To avoid an imminent crash in morale, and/or a panic, he starts a conversation) If you have any famous last words, now would be the time.

WW: (deadpan) I'm not going to say 'I love you.'

YT: I know. That's *my* line.

WW: (puts her attention to the boy)

YT: (keeping the conversation alive) Any secrets to share? You don't want your secrets going to the grave with you.

WW: Too many. We'll run out of air first.

YT: Come on. Just one.

WW: (uninterested) Why don't you go first, if you like this game so much. (hoping this will put an end to the parlor game)

YT: (thinks to find one). The reason I don't go by 'Steve' ... is that I don't want to live in another man's shadow. (YT is a naturally good natured fellow, so the following is said without bitterness nor drama, just matter of fact). I have his name... apparently I have his face...I have the expectation to live up to something I'll never live up to. And so I wanted something of my own, something that's just me. And that's Trev.

WW: (Looks over at him sweetly, with sympathy)

YT: And, in the strangest twist of the century, he somehow managed to steal the heart of the woman I love.

WW: (looks away, uncomfortable, tapping fingers in annoyance. Then,) Let me tell you something. For the future. For your bright future. Never make a pass at a girl in a plane or a bomb shelter, ok?

YT: (unphased by the whole thing, apparently emotionally detached from it all, somehow. Back to the game). Ok, your turn.

WW: I'm not doing this.

YT: I went first. It was a good one, right?

WW: ~Nooo ("not really")

YT: But it was a secret, right.

WW: Okaaaay...

YT: So you go now. Fair 's fair.

WW: (exasperated sigh of resignation. WW is a very private person, so this is the last thing in the whole world she wants to do).

YT: Here, I'll make it easy. I'm not even looking. (YT gets up and starts looking through the emergency items on the shelves behind WW again. YT and WW are facing opposite directions, back to back as it were, with several feet between them)

WW: (screwing up her face like when Steve admitted "I'm a spy." Finally she blurts it out) I'm afraid to fall in love again. (Hides face in hands, can't believe she said it, and already regrets saying it. Meanwhile YT has found something very interesting among the emergency supplies which commands his attention.)

WW: (has opened the dam, and it's all going to pour out now. She continues her monologue into space while YT fixates on his discovery in back of her). Everyone *dies*. How many times should I break my heart, century after century? I could never endure it. (tears are coming). I've come to really know what it means to give yourself to someone, and that's why I can't do it. I can't go there... I can't bear to lose someone again. (she cries and then starts to wonder why YT is not comforting her. She looks back over her shoulder toward YT) Trev?

YT: We're alive!

WW: What? (wiping her tears)

YT: It's a *map*. A map of the mine! There are several places we can exit (points down the shaft) going forward!

WW: Is that all you care about?

YT: (shocked she is not sharing his joy)

WW: Did you even hear a word I said?

YT: I'm sorry. Did you say something? Let's get out of here. Tell me on the way.

WW: I said I hate you.

YT: I already knew that. Come up with a real secret.

WW: (as they march into the distance along the shaft we hear WW saying to YT) We're not going to die anymore, so the game 's over.

YT: (we hear them fainter and fainter as they grow more distant) I bet you said you love me.

WW: (fainter) I *love* you?

YT: (fainter) There, you said it again.

WW: (faintest) Do you want to make it out of here alive?

*end of scene


	6. Final Battle

*Scene: Final battle

(Shot of a rather ordinary waterfall running down the side of the coal mountain. WW and YT and boy are walking above ground at the coal mine; the strike is still in progress. WW pauses to admire the waterfall, pointing it out to YT and boy.)

WW: Waterfall. (She says with a simple appreciation. YT is relatively uninterested at a time like this, considering everything that is going on). Nature is the purest form of beauty. (she says matter of factly, as though it is the lesson of the day, and she walks on her way)

(They spot the boy's mom with her husband standing near the entrance where they had originally entered. Boy runs off to mom, and she scoops him up. Emotional reunion; then mom has words for WW/YT)

Mom: I was so worried. I heard something in the mine. Did something happen?

YT: Quite alot happened, actually...

WW: He's safe now...and so are we, so it's all good.

Mom: I can never thank you enough.

Husband: (with cap in hand) Dzięki. (to WW, then to YT)

(The little family goes their way and WW and YT chat a bit as they meander towards the strikers)

YT: Just another day, huh.

WW: Live every day like it's your last. No regrets.

YT: I was worried about you down there. If the mine had collapsed on you, that would have been the end, wouldn't it.

WW: I don't know. Probably. I don't really want to find out.

YT: Do you ever feel...

WW: Like I'm close? ...once or twice. But I heal fast. Like, really fast.

YT: Amazing.

WW: I'm pretty durable.

YT: Pretty adorable?

WW: I said I'm - (she gives his shoulder a shove) you know what I said.

YT: Do you hear something?

WW: Sounds like an earthquake - the mine!

(But it is not an earthquake, but rather a big giant Soviet robot type thing the size of a troll bursts out of the mine entrance which was too small for him anyway. Ok folks, to write a final battle we had to pick a villain, so we're going with a Red Rocket Brigade style man-in-robot-suit type character. It's a big honking industrial heap of weaponry, symbolic of the materialist Soviet state. As a plot twist, these (normally man-sized) Red Rocket Brigadiers have been the henchmen of the main Villainess throughout; indeed it was one of them which pulled WW out the window a while back. But now one of them appears to have become inexplicably large, and survived the mine collapse which took out the Villainess and her other Red Rocket henchmen. So, a lowly henchman has unexpectedly become the final boss.)

YT: (to WW) Didn't you already beat this thing?

WW: Why is it so big now?

Red: (stomping up to WW) Who knew: the MacGuffinator stores energy, and it supercharges my quantum Rocketsuit!

WW: What?

Red: Blast me. Go ahead, don't be scared.

WW: With pleasure. (WW busts out an energy blast like she did during the mine battle)

Red: (defends himself with the MacGuffin shield, and it transfers the blast energy into his Rocketsuit, making it/him get bigger. He's starting to look kind of like a transformer.) See? A higher energy state. Do it again. Hit me, hit me!

WW: (Does it again and Red gets bigger.)

YT: (to WW) Stop doing that.

WW: (to Red) Why didn't Villainess get bigger?

Red: Because she's not wearing a Rocketsuit?

*cut to flashback visuals as Red voice-overs his tale.

Red: So there I was, under a heap of coal, when I reach over and manage to touch the MacGuffin shield. And suddenly all the energy from your blasts that was stored in the shield runs into me, like "zap!" and suddenly I'm like all pumped, and I bust out of the mine, and here we are. Could you hit me again?

WW: (blasts Red's foot this time with a more directional blast; Red was unable to block it with the shield, which looks like a round shield similar to WW's btw, except it glows blue with MacGuffin coolness, and gets bigger with the rest of him. And so his foot takes damage.)

Red: (hopping) ouch! Where's the femium auto-tracker on this thing? (flips a switch) Now try that again. (speaking of which, one of the previous "evil brewing" scenes showed the bad guys working on a femium auto-tracker which scans for the unique metal in WW's bracelets and keeps track of where she is, and where her blasts are coming from)

WW: (Sends out a series of directional blasts, but the auto-pilot shield blocks each one.)

Red: Oh yeah! Betcha can't hit me now!

WW: (very competitive, keeps trying, while Red keeps getting bigger)

YT: Diana!

WW: What am I supposed to do?

YT: Get out of here!

WW: (not pleased with the suggestion, but listens to reason and bounds off)

Red: Hey, come back! Where are you going? (Red is now transformer sized: a big honking metal giant lumbering along, not particularly agile, but the auto-shield is lightning fast at keeping itself between him and WW)

WW: (is now at a distance, among a crowd of strikers. She says to the men,) I need mud. Can you make me a truckload of mud? (they assent, as they keep a wary eye on Red, and WW bounds off somewhere else so the men can fulfill her request undisturbed)

Red: Ok, I'm big enough. Time for destroying things: like everything you've worked so hard to build up! (And he starts stomping among the strikers, and rolling over innocent men with his giant tank-tred feet.)

*cut to YT elsewhere among the strikers

YT: (has found one of the American undercover infiltrators like himself among the strikers. Indeed, it is the official he had spoken with in the hallway of the White House). Smitty, you've got to do something. Can't you call in an air-strike or something?

Official_Smith: Are you crazy? We can't just start bombing Soviet territory. It's a *cold* war.

Lech: (suddenly popping up amidst the strikers) There is something, your president told me about. If only I could speak with him.

Official_Smith: That, I can do. (taps a striker next to him who is actually a Communications Officer). Get me the president.

CommOfficer: (pulling radio thingy out of satchel) Sir, yes sir, sir!

Red continues his merciless carnage until:

WW: (drops down in front of him, brave and defiant). Stop this! I challenge you to a duel. Me and you. Let these people go.

Red: Will you blast me?

WW: (thinks, doesn't quite have a plan) I promise.

Red: You're on.

(WW flies and leaps around, Tinkerbell style, while she and Red engage in a philosophical discussion without many blows being exchanged, and no blasts. Red tries occasionally to swat her, without connecting.)

Red: Puny humans are no match for the power of Soviet machinery!

WW: (to Red) Somewhere in there I know there's a man - a beating heart. (She lands on the big windshield of the robot's head to look inside for the human controller. Igor, inside, waves.) I am Diana, daughter of Hippolyta. What is your name?

Igor: Igor. Sorry, I do not know who my parents were. I was raised by the State. The State is my father. My mother is Mother Russia.

WW: For the love of humanity, Igor, have pity!

Red: Humanity, over-rated. Pity is weakness. Machines are the future!

WW: I want to talk with you. Let me in. (tapping on the windshield)

Red: (giant hand comes up behind WW and grabs her, King Kong style.) You think I am a fool?

WW: (Fay Wray style, in metal kong's hand) If you let me in, I can help you.

Red: You help me? I'm winning the battle.

WW: You're winning the wrong battle, don't you see?

Red: No?

WW: You're making a world that isn't worth building. A world with no humanity, no dignity, no compassion.

Red: Those things are just illusions to deceive the masses. (He stomps on the waterfall, shattering its natural beauty, for emphasis. The rainbow at its base disappears.)

WW: The human spirit is real.

Red: I have never detected it with my material instruments.

WW: That's because it is spirit, not matter.

Red: If it's not matter, it doesn't matter! (laughs at his own cleverness.)

WW: Open your eyes, it is all around you. (shot of the boy's mom holding her crushed husband, men dutifully loading up mud in the hope it will help, Lech on the walkie talkie pleading for his people, little boy clinging to his mother)

Red: (almost moved by his own path of destruction, he casts WW away, which is about as nice as he gets, and puts his big robot face right next to the boy. Boy is distraught, but reaches over with curiosity to touch the big strange windshield. Igor leans forward, stretching out his hand to meet the boy's hand, with just the glass separating them, but he can't quite reach from his seat, and he plops back down and stands up the robot). I'll stick with materialism.

WW: (standing on Red's head, holding up a truck full of mud) Then you are truly blind. (WW dumps mud on windshield, blinding Red)

Red: (staggers around, wipes his face on the grass)

WW: (to people) Run for your lives!

YT: (Comes running by amidst the mayhem. To WW,) Come on. (beckoning WW to follow him to safety.)

WW: Not me.

YT: What do you mean not you?

WW: This is my part.

YT: Doing what?

WW: To fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.

YT: You're getting nowhere with this thing. (streams of panicked people are running by as YT/WW talk; they are kind of shouting to be heard above the din)

WW: I'll keep it busy.

YT: You're gonna get yourself killed.

WW: (thinks) Maybe.

YT: (makes his last appeal to persuade her). I'm not ready to lose you.

WW: (with empathy, sad that YT now also feels the sorrow she has felt, she states a universal truth they both understand all too well) We never are.

YT: Let's go. (extends his hand)

WW: (looks around, assessing the situation. Decides she is needed here) It's time for you to go.

YT: (smiles) I kind of like it here.

WW: (touched by his sweetness, she melts ever so slightly, and shakes her head as in "what am I going to do with you?" Sighs. If she can't shake him, she's going to enlist him). Cover for me?

YT: I've got your back. Go get him. Hit him in his weak spot.

WW: Which is? (Hopeless. But then she gets an idea; looks at her lasso.) That's it! (She has a plan)

(WW runs up to the giant foot and casts the lasso around the ankle. The circumference of the giant limb is greater than the lasso, so WW reaches out to hold both ends, one with each hand, to complete the circle, stretching her arms to the max, hugging the giant tree, as it were) How can I defeat you?

Red: Your chance of success is one in one hundred million. Death is imminent.

WW: What is your next move?

Red: Crush the life out of you, then world domination.

(Red uses his other foot to scrape WW off his leg, and steps on her. Then he lays the MacGuffin shield over her to block any blasts, and jumps up and down on it/her.)

*cut to the Oval Office.

RR: (is speaking to a translator, who holds the phone.) Alright Lech, it's not yet operational, but I'll see what I can do.

Translator: (Translates, and hangs up at RR's signal).

RR: Get me General Whatsitz.

*cut to Whatsitz at a command center at the Pentagon, lots of folk at screens working in a darkened environment, plus a huge screen in front.

Whatsitz: (with phone) Mr. President?

RR: Whats the status on the Strategic Defense Initiative prototypes?

Whatsitz: Three in the sky; we've had some successful tests, within a ten foot margin. These are the energy impulse ones. The ballistic ones are-

RR: Can you do a ground target test for me?

Whatsitz: Certainly, Mr. President; we can schedule -

RR: Now.

Whatsitz: Now?

RR: Can you hit Poland?

Whatsitz: (saying something to a tech near him...then). Sir, is this war?

RR: It's more like a lucky strike of lightning in the middle of nowhere...so there will *be* no war.

Whatsitz: (tech tells him something. To tech) Bring it up. (to RR) There's one in range of Poland, sir.

RR: Polesville.

Whatsitz: What are we targeting? These are designed to hit thermal targets, like incoming missles.

RR: Hit the hottest thing in Polesville.

Whatsitz: We'll scan the whole spectrum: thermal, electromagnetic... If it's putting out energy, it's going down. Ok, sir?

RR: I hope so.

Whatsitz: Sir?

RR: Affirmative. Fire when ready.

Whatsitz: (talks to tech. Birdseye thermal image of Polesville is showing on the big screen, fuzzy and indistinct. A large glowing object and a smaller but brighter object) Sir, does this have anything to do with the super agent we're hearing about?

RR: No comment. Your orders are to fire, General.

Whatsitz: ...Targets acquired. Is she hot?

RR: Beg pardon?

Whatsitz: If she's hot we're going to blow her away. (to tech: "zoom in on that thing")

(Screen zooms in on an indistinct bright shining object, a little like the corpse at a crime scene, curled up in fetal position, next to the large glowing object)

Translator: (still in the room with RR, assisting with the phone. Quietly to RR) Sir, there have been reports of electrical phenomena associated with the super-

Whatsitz: (coming through the speakerphone.) Sir? Is she hot?

RR: (quietly to Translator) Just say no.

Trans: (to speaker phone) That's a negative, General.

RR: (facing window. Quietly,) Turn it off, honey...

*cut to WW, she has been stamped into the soft ground, mostly unconscious, her shield over her face, the MacGuffin shield on top of that, and Red's treds on top of that. Red drives back, off the MacGuffin shield, and lifts it away to check the results underneath. He sees the curled up figure motionless with shield covering her face. Red tries to flip away WW's shield, but his Kong sized finger is too big to dislodge it from where it is, embedded in the mud.)

Red: Only one way to know for sure. (he stands up, takes a step back, and points his arm with one of its embedded missles at WW. Missile raises up for firing.) Three...two...

(lightning strikes out of the overcast sky, hitting Red, and all his lights go out.)

YT: (is the first to reach WW, he lifts the shield, and she is barely conscious. He works to pry her out of the ground)

(Strikers run over, some to WW, some to Red, whom they kick, and whack with pick axes, to no effect.

*cut to the command center at the Pentagon.

Whatsitz: (says to phone.) It's a hit, sir; primary target disabled. (screen shows the large object no longer glows). Firing on secondary target. (screen zooms in on small bright figure, surrounded by indistinct figures)

*cut to Oval Office

RR: Hold your fire! (silence) Stand down, general; do you copy?

*cut to YT lifting up the limp WW for carrying. Foggy, like someone waking up, WW tries to open an eye, facing skyward. Does she sense the peril above?

*cut back to RR waiting anxiously for a response.

RR: Do you copy?!

Whatsitz: (suspenseful silence, and then, through the speaker phone) Copy that. Firing sequence aborted.

RR: (Mops brow with handkerchief.) Thank you, general. Well done.

*cut to YT carrying WW, he looks around for the most helpful destination; the crowd hems them in. Suddenly there is a great sound as Red starts up again, lights coming on. Yes, the thing just won't die, horror movie style.

WW: (faintly) ...take me away...

Red: (is concerned with the thing in the sky which shot him. He looks up here and there. Then shoots one of his missiles up into the sky. We see it going up and then getting struck down by the SDI prototype. Red shoots two more missiles up, and we see two more little explosions up in the sky as they are shot down in flight.

*cut to the Pentagon control room.

Tech: (to general) Confirmed, we are under attack.

Whatsitz: (to comm guy) Get me the President.

*cut to Red. Red is like an angry gorilla waving up at the sky, shooting off missiles here and there, skyward. He holds the MacGuffinator shield over his head in case something comes down, and indeed eventually lightning comes down as earlier, except this time Red catches it on his shield, and he grows bigger.

Red: Oh yeah. Is that all you've got? Is that all you've got?

(Another bolt comes from the sky to his delight, and another. He's quite a large transformer by now, ready to take on Godzilla. And then he spots a small something shining on a small hilltop nearby. His femium tracker, which he has been over-riding recently, shows "femium detected" in that direction. He looks up at the sky saying "That's enough out of you," and shoots off a dozen spiraling missiles at once. We see a few small explosions as several of them are shot down, and then one large explosion as they take out the SDI prototype).

Red: I knew it was possible to beat those things. (And now he walks slowly and ominously towards the little hilltop. Camera shows us the view from the hilltop, as Red approaches. Golden sky lights up the world, with Red being a big black back-lit silhouette, lumbering forward. Camera pulls back to reveal it has been shooting through the triangle of space between WW's stance; revealing the likewise black silhouette of the back of her legs, and then body, as the camera continues to pull back. We see the two silhouettes: the back of WW in her power posture with hands on hips, and, in the distance, but growing larger with each step, the silhouette of Red approaching.)

(And yet, something is not right with the figure of WW. The hair is not as wavy, her stance not as steady. The figure appears to be trembling like a leaf, barely able to maintain her pose. Close ups of the silhouettes of hair and then trembling hands)

(Red's silhouette now looms large before the small figure of WW, dwarfing her like Godzilla in front of his prey.)

(We see from Red's perspective, looking down on the small figure on the hilltop. His robot camera zooms in on the figure, and it's not WW, but someone wearing her costume. We are seeing the front of her, all lit by the golden sun. Her hair is a lighter brown. It is the mom of the boy.)

Red: What? Who are *you*?

Mom: I am Anya. Of Polesville. (she says, terrified, but keeping it together, barely.)

Red: What are you doing?

Mom: (tosses hair defiantly, but still shaking like a leaf) I am doing my part.

Red: Don't tell me you have super powers.

Mom: I have courage. I can wear size one...almost. (tugs in pain at the corset around her ribs) And I am distracting.

Red: I don't see your point.

Mom: That's the point.

Red: What?

Mom: You don't *see*.

Red: (Lost patience) Enough talking. Prepare to die. (Shoulder missile pops up and starts flashing for launch)

(Little boy runs over to mom and hugs her leg; mom spares a hand to hold his head while keeping her position).

Red: What don't I see?

(Camera zooms from the hilltop, and past Red, to the far side of the field, where a group of seven maidens in their village attire are huddled on the ground, some praying, some holding their children. We hear the voice over of the boy's mom)

Mom: The Wonder Woman. (in Polish)

(And indeed, the maiden in the middle of the group is Diana wearing the mom's clothes, having none of her own femium accessories; she is undetected by Red and the MacGuffin, and has a clear shot at him from behind. She still looks pretty out of it; some of the maidens are propping her up where she sits on the ground. WW squints to focus on her target, and says quietly)

WW: I promised you this... (She closes eyes, crosses her arms, and manages just the smallest of blasts, then she falls back, spent)

(WW's shot hits the fiery engine of the missile on Red's shoulder, and its fire goes out. Unfortunately for Red, the ballistic front half of the missile continues its countdown.)

Red: (looking over at the missile on his shoulder, taps it to get it working again, unsuccessfully, and counts aloud) two...one..

(A blinding flash, and the head of Red goes flying off. Then the camera shows us again from the hilltop, from behind mom, the tableau of the two silhouettes: the robot and the mom, but now Red has no head. The giant Colossus starts to lean to one side like the Tower of Pisa, and starts to fall over sideways amidst clouds of dust. But before it all comes down, it disintegrates into the wind, as the MacGuffin energy is no longer holding anything together.)

(The silhouette of the brave figure of the mom now stands alone, her boy clinging to one leg. She appears to be standing as the victor, but then, in a motion which seems to mimic the fall of Red, she too leans to one side as a leg gives way, and like the Tower of Pisa, she too tips over and crumples to the ground.)

(her boy clings to her, and YT, who had presumably driven the mom to her spot on the hilltop, comes rushing over to her assistance.)

YT: Are you ok? Were you hit?

Mom: Can't breathe...too tight... How does she wear this? ...Get me out!

YT: (looks around, looks at boy, not certain how best to handle the situation)

Wide shot of the field/hill where the battle played out, all bathed in the golden light of the waning sun.

*end of scene


	7. Farewell

*Scene: Farewells

(Close-up of an old-school standard def TV; Reagan is on the TV giving a speech by the Berlin Wall)

RR: (on TV) Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.

(Camera pulls back from the TV screen, revealing the room where Lech and his crew first met with WW. The same folk are on hand. Lech says to all of them,)

Lech: It will make a nice picture one day, tearing down the wall, but remember, it all started here. In the shipyards. At the mine.

(One of the Solidarity men steps forward holding what's left of WW's cowl)

Solid: (to WW) I'm afraid this too was a casualty of the battle.

Lech: (to WW) So we got you something... for the next time you visit Poland. (Hands WW a giant woolly parka. He chides her like a concerned father). You're not on your island anymore. You have to bundle up!

WW: Dzięki. (smiles graciously, embraces Lech. The room applauds, and WW begins to greet each one)

*cut to a city scene

(WW, in parka, and YT are coming out of a vintage wine shop in a fairly large and busy Polish city. As they step onto the sidewalk YT presents WW with a bottle of wine.)

YT: This is for you.

WW: (holds the bottle. The label has a big '29 on it.)

YT: 1929, a good year.

WW: (Laughs). Yes it was...as I remember. (reconsidering) No it wasn't - market crash, start of the depression. What are you giving me here? (they laugh)

YT: You make a good 29. You should stay that way. As long as you want. -And you know what they say about fine wines.

YT and WW (together): They just keep getting better and better.

WW: -with age.

(YT offers no comment)

WW: (trying to undo the awkward moment she created, moves on to a related topic) You're right, it does have kind of a wine color. (Pulling back the parka to show her red costume)

(they walk down the city sidewalk)

YT: Will you be going back to Paris?

WW: I don't think I can; not for long. People are starting to ask too many questions.

YT: Like what.

WW: Alot of things. I've been there a while, *quite* a while now. People I've worked with for years are starting to make comments: I "don't look a day older." ...I need a new town.

YT: I'm sure there's a place for you at the Smithsonian.

WW: ...Maybe I could be an exhibit. Instead of Director of Antiquities, I'll just be an antiquity.

(They are standing at a subway entrance, stairs leading down into oblivion.)

YT: This is my stop... Look me up when you're stateside. I'm always happy to cover for you. (they share a smile) You keep an eye on the world, and I'll keep an eye on you. (they embrace as friends getting ready to part). Who knows, maybe one day you'll let me break your heart. (WW is startled, but then lowers her head, sorry she cannot reciprocate his affection.) We never really lose anyone, you know. You just keep gathering more and more people in there. And one day, when you don't see me around anymore, that's where you'll find me. In your heart. That's where you'll find everyone you're looking for.

WW: (touched by his words, but a little miffed) You heard every word I said in the bomb shelter, didn't you.

(YT is not saying. WW half heartedly punches him in the arm for having teased her, which she always seems to fall for)

YT: Coal mine. Speaking of which, we're above ground, and not in a plane - so, what are you doing your last weekend in Poland?

WW: Thanks for the wine, Trev. There are a couple thank you's I need to deliver as well. Maybe some other time.

YT: (Going down the stairs without looking back, but loud enough so WW can hear, he says) She said 'maybe.'

WW: (walks to the edge of the stairs and shouts down after him) Sometimes 'maybe' means 'no.'

YT: (singsong) She said 'sometimes.'

WW: (steps away from the stairs. YT is gone, and WW stands on the sidewalk, leaning back against the subway entrance wall while she ponders YT's words for a few moments. She looks up at the sky, and somehow tears are coming though she's not sure why. Maybe she's finally letting herself crash after all the adventure. Or maybe it's something else coming to the surface from deep within her, that will not be suppressed any longer.)

YT: (suddenly back) So, did you want this? (offers ST's medal of honor)

WW: (is startled, but then she throws her arms around YT as though he were her long lost love coming back from the war)

YT: (can hardly talk since WW is squeezing him so hard) I'll take that as a yes. (she lets go, inexplicably happy)

WW: (thoughtfully) No, I don't need it anymore. I know where I can find him.

YT: Good. (happy for her, that she has reached some new insight, and happy for himself because,) I've grown attached to it. It's a little piece of who I am.

WW: (is seeming pretty giddy, but not saying much)

YT: Then what was the big hug for?

WW: (does not have a way with words, finds it especially difficult to verbalize her emotions, is clammed up at the moment)

YT: Pick you up at 8?

WW: (has decided to let herself love again, but not today. She is eager to join him, but,) I told you, I'm *busy*.

YT: Seriously? Who are you seeing that's so important?

WW: (gives him a look like "it's a secret, and don't be suspicious," and cocks an eyebrow for emphasis.)

*Cut to a dark bedroom at night, all lights out. WW enters through big french doors (windows). She stealthily places a jar of jellybeans on the nightstand with a note "Thanks for your support! -D" and starts to exit, but then reconsiders and goes back to the sleeping figure. She curls her lasso lightly around Reagan's head/pillow and whispers,

WW: Is that your natural hair color?

RR: (snort, grunt, still asleep) ...Yes. Yes it is...

WW: (impressed, heads out the way she came in)

Nancy: (half asleep) Who are you talking to. There's no one here but us.

RR: Yes there was.

Nancy: No, Ronnie. There wasn't. (more awake now)

RR: Yes there was...(and he's back asleep)

Nancy: Who? (not buying it)

RR: Diana...

Nancy: Princess Diana?

RR: Yeah...

Nancy: Lady Di is not here. (trying to talk sense)

RR: Not her, the other one...

Nancy gives up, and RR is asleep.

*cut to a shot of the moon; pull back to reveal the dome of St. Peter's in the moonlight. WW is making her way upon the rooftop until she comes to the papal apartments where the pope resides. She enters a bedroom through the window, but the bed is empty.

WW: (to herself) Where could he be?

(WW leaves the room and stealthily makes her way down the hallway, unfamiliar with the place. She looks through an open door and sees the pope's private chapel: altar, candles, a tabernacle, an icon of the Madonna, some kneelers, but no pope there praying.)

(She goes back in the hallway, and Father Stanislaw, the pope's secretary is walking the hallway, looking like scrooge with sleeping gown, night cap, and maybe even a candle for good measure. WW squeezes herself into a shadow while Fr. Stanislaw passes by.)

(WW exits back outside via the window she came in. She spies some light coming from one of skylights, and goes over to look through it. She sees the papal swimming pool, and John Paul (JP) swimming laps. For the record, JP did have a pool built into the Vatican apartments so he could keep up his athletic regimen after he was elected pope.)

WW: Who knew. (It's a long drop down, and WW thinks it would be a fun idea to make a splash, so she dives in from above, unnoticed by the swimmer.)

(JP gets out of the pool and wraps himself in a bathrobe. WW emerges from the water a moment later, startling the pontiff. He takes a step back staggering, and WW catches him by the hand to prevent him from falling.)

WW: Forgive me for intruding. Good to see you are recovering so well!

JP: (gives her a very perplexed look as he tries to figure out who is this person)

WW: I just wanted to say thank you for, well, for all your help.

JP: (thinks he knows who this is. Points at her) The hospital. Lech told me about all you did for the people. And now *I* am thanking *you*.

WW: I brought them your message. It fell on good ground.

JP: Poland. Good soil. (he says with conviction and pride, nodding his head)

(some knocking at the door to the pool)

WW: I should be going.

JP: Do you need directions out...again?

WW: I know my way. Thanks. (She uses the lasso and a jump to make her exit through the skylight above.)

JP: God be with you. (He says to WW up in the skylight)

WW: And with your spirit. (looking down at him; and she's off)

(The door to the pool area opens and Fr. Stanislaw enters)

Stan: Holy Father, I heard voices.

JP: That's good, Stanislaw. We should always be listening for the voice of the Spirit.

Stan: It sounded like a woman's voice.

JP: Have you not read, "Wisdom is made proud by all her children"?

Stan: Were you speaking with Wisdom then? (rhetorical, "surely not")

JP: (exiting the pool area with Fr. Stanislaw) Maybe I was. Maybe I was.

*cut to WW standing on the rooftop of St. Peter's, the same spot she stood when the pope was shot, overlooking the square.

(She is just enjoying the peaceful beautiful night, under a sky full of stars. She stretches out her arms, and we see her spread fingers as she sees them, they look like they are touching each one of the stars.)

WW: (WW's voice over) So many thank you's...for each and every one, for the part you play: for your courage, your goodness, your spirit. May it never be broken. Never forget who you are. (we see, from WW's vantage point, a sea of people gathered in the square below for a vigil, holding candles; then a close up of faces) Never lose hope. Never doubt. (slow fade to the profile of WW's silhouette on the rooftop, against the starry sky. She says in her own voice, softly, speaking both to herself and to the world) "Do not be afraid...to love." (She clasps her heart, bows her head, and spontaneously gives the smallest laughter of joy.)

*The End*

~queue electric cello

~roll credits


End file.
